The unique inter-weaving of online and offline play alone makes it worth checking out. Add to that the solid look and the open-ended gameplay and you've got another disc that'll put a smile on current-gen gamers living in a next-gen world.

The game works hard to achieve a balance between elements gamers are familiar with and elements to provide new experiences. For the most part, Riviera manages to keep that balance quite well.

Though getting through Ty 2 is particularly easy, it would likely be enough of a challenge for younger players to make this a good gateway game. The same humor, scripting, and play mechanics that feel childish to experienced players will be new and entertaining to those without experience.

It may not be revolutionary or technically stunning, but it is a lot of fun; and that's what games are all about.

For those who fondly remember tapping the "A" button as fast as they could to avoid tackles, this is an enjoyable title, mainly because of the feelings of nostalgia it will inspire.

It's not that the game has the wrong songs, but that it has so few of them. For $60, you can't help but feel a little cheated when all you get is Guitar Hero III with a light coat of paint and barely half the songs.

Some will scoff at the game's seemingly wacky control schemes and twitchy vehicle handling, but those who enjoy arcade racers will likely find something to enjoy here.

Warrior Within proves that it takes more than just good combat and platforming to make a great game. Bottom line: The Warrior Within simply didn't have enough "Prince of Persia."

Infinite Undiscovery's greatest weakness is that it feels too much like other, better JRPGs, many of which were also developed by tri-Ace. However, in a strange way, that's also its greatest strength.

Taking flight as the NiGHTS character is once again an engaging gameplay experience.

It's pretty irritating to play a sequel and face so many of the issues of the original, but Bloodshot's ability to take you into the terrifying world Monolith has crafted is astonishing.

Pales in comparison to the beloved PC games. On its own, however, the game is an enjoyable, if unspectacular, first-person shooter.

Though getting through Ty 2 is particularly easy, it would likely be enough of a challenge for younger players to make this a good gateway game. The same humor, scripting, and play mechanics that feel childish to experienced players will be new and entertaining to those without experience.

It's not the strongest competitor in the field, but MotoGP 4 is a solid contender in the genre.

If you want pure, unadulterated violence, you came to the right place. Still, I can't help but be a little disappointed in this title -- especially coming from Volition, of Red Faction fame. It's a little too by-the-book.

Sadly, even if the fans at Arco were banging authentic Sacramento cowbells like crazy, it wouldn't be quite enough to land NBA Live 09 on top of the basketball heap.

It's the weak multiplayer that keeps us from recommending The Club with full enthusiasm.

You are almost always riding the finest line between screaming along somewhat stably and totally losing it, and in that sense, Baja succeeds tremendously. Those kinds of stakes may not appeal to everyone, however, and the majority of people who tend to like finishing races may not need all of the incredible realism that an intense sim like Baja has to offer.

It starts off fun, but once you've played enough rounds of Sub-Zero versus The Joker, there's not enough substance in Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe to give it the longevity of better fighting games.

For a lot of players, the excellent graphics and high levels of violence and sex appeal will be more than enough to keep Bloodrayne 2 spinning. It's really a shame that the A.I. is so daft, and even with all the acrobatics, the very linear levels don't truly captivate.

It does an admirable job of re-creating a complex console game on the PSP ... admirable but for the ridiculous load times. They truly put a damper on the rest of the game, turning what would have been a fantastic, console-like experience into a decent, console-like experience.

The game's impressive A.I. and variety of gameplay will keep players coming back for more, even with its noticeable flaws.

The biggest problem with Battle Network 5 is the same thing that has plagued all the other sequels in the series: it's just too darn much like its predecessors.

While last year's effort truly took my breath away, I can't shake the feeling that this year's effort is more of an engine tune up than a complete rebuild. It still remains the number one F1 game on the market, but that's more about the lack of any competition than the game pushing the boundaries of last year's winning entrant.

The problem is that NetDevil really needs to improve on the social aspects of the game; as it stands now, it's more of a "massively single-player game" than anything else.

While the game should have included at least a little bit of museum-quality extras, at $20 it's still a hard deal to pass up.

Despite all that's good with the game, NHL 2K8's innovations are a few years behind the times, making it feel like a cheap rehash of what's already available.

A markedly better game than its predecessors.